My CD-RW wont burn at speed stated

Hey guys... i hope you can help me with this. I have a Sony CRX225E CD-RW. Its a 52x24x52 drive... The problem is every time i try to burn a cd, be it iso or just a disc of mp3's it takes at least 7 minutes at 52x. This is definitely not burning at 52x. Ive tried all different types of CD-Rs and all different types of burns (CD Audio, mp3s, iso, movies) and no matter what it takes at least 7 min. I use Nero as my software and i have an Athlon XP 2500+, Asus A7N8X Del, 1GB of PC2700 Ram, Win2kpro, and my cd drives are on the other IDE channel than the hard drives. I looked for firmware updates on Sonys site but i didnt find any. If you guys have any ideas why this is happening or have had this happen and know a fix any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
-Lalaji

Im Using Imation Media rated at 48x and even when i try to burn at 48X it takes forever. Im using Nero 6.0.0.11 and there is no MAX option. Just every interval from 4-52X. And when its burning it starts out really loud as if its burning really fast... then about 10-15% into the disc it slows down tremendously. Does that help in trying to figure out the problem?

I'm going to take a different approach. I think the disks could/can be a problem (I've seen it before). But what I have also seen is the buffer failing to be full, I bet it writes real fast for just a few seconds then its got to stop the laser load the buffer back up, and then start writing again, ect....
I know Poertner_1274 had this problem when he first got his burner. I'm not sure if you can search for that or not, I don't remember if he posted it here, but I remember it from when we both lived at the same fraternity house.

That was April 2002, when 24x wasn't too old. Nobody mentioned media there, and it turns out that was not the issue anyway. Although I'm not sure how well poertner's solution will help you. Here it is anyway:

Alright, thank you to Mictlantecuhtli on IRC and a little snooping around by myself. I have fixed my problem. All I had to do was update something from the mitsumi website. I had previously tried this, but didn't work. So I tried again, and hey it worked. I have no idea, but it is fixed now and I love it.

I dont think i am having the buffer problem. The buffer fluctuates but i dont think it hits zero and lags. As for the firmware... i looked on Sonys site for a firmware upgrade but i couldnt find one. My drive is the CRX225E, its an OEM and the 225A is the retail drive. The 225A is the only one listed and i didnt find an upgrade for that so i dont know what else to do on that end. I ordered some TDK cds and should be getting them next weekend. Ill try those asap. Another thing is do you guys think it could be an issue Nero has with my burner? Maybe i should try Easy CD Creator or something? I like nero but hey... its its not up to par... im willing to kick it out the door. What do you guys think? Thanks for all the help by the way.
- Lalaji